TY - JOUR
T1 - Living arrangements and suicidal ideation among the Korean older adults
AU - Kim, Jibum
AU - Lee, Yun Suk
AU - Lee, Jinkook
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Objectives: This study examines how living arrangements are associated with suicidal ideation for older adults in South Korea, which has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries, and a particularly high suicide rate for older persons. Methods: Analyzing a sample of 5795 women and 3758 men aged 65 and older from a nationwide representative cross-sectional data-set, we examined how many older adults think about suicide over a one-year period, why they think about suicide, and whether living arrangements are associated with suicidal ideation. Results: About 1 out of 12 respondents in our sample reported suicidal ideation. While women and men did not differ in the prevalence of suicidal ideation, women attributed their suicidal feelings to health problems, while men attributed theirs to economic difficulties. Logistic regression results indicated that living arrangements are associated with suicidal ideation for men but not women. Older men living with a spouse were less likely to have suicidal ideation than older men with other living arrangements (i.e., living alone, living with children without spouse, living with spouse, and others). Conclusions: Our results highlight the importance of living arrangements to older men's suicidal ideation. We discuss gender differences in the implications of living arrangements to suicidal ideation within the context of Confucian culture.
AB - Objectives: This study examines how living arrangements are associated with suicidal ideation for older adults in South Korea, which has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries, and a particularly high suicide rate for older persons. Methods: Analyzing a sample of 5795 women and 3758 men aged 65 and older from a nationwide representative cross-sectional data-set, we examined how many older adults think about suicide over a one-year period, why they think about suicide, and whether living arrangements are associated with suicidal ideation. Results: About 1 out of 12 respondents in our sample reported suicidal ideation. While women and men did not differ in the prevalence of suicidal ideation, women attributed their suicidal feelings to health problems, while men attributed theirs to economic difficulties. Logistic regression results indicated that living arrangements are associated with suicidal ideation for men but not women. Older men living with a spouse were less likely to have suicidal ideation than older men with other living arrangements (i.e., living alone, living with children without spouse, living with spouse, and others). Conclusions: Our results highlight the importance of living arrangements to older men's suicidal ideation. We discuss gender differences in the implications of living arrangements to suicidal ideation within the context of Confucian culture.
KW - Korean older people
KW - living arrangement
KW - suicidal ideation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84941348786&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13607863.2015.1078280
DO - 10.1080/13607863.2015.1078280
M3 - Article
C2 - 26317145
AN - SCOPUS:84941348786
SN - 1360-7863
VL - 20
SP - 1305
EP - 1313
JO - Aging and Mental Health
JF - Aging and Mental Health
IS - 12
ER -